Autumn Market

Evidence of me being very busy getting ready for the i♥market this Saturday is all over the place!
This pile of Origami Lilies on the coffee table are waiting to have their petals curled.
My latest crochet project - a cover for a vintage Arcoroc mixing bowl is also ready to go.

These highball glasses keep catching my eye! They seem so white and full of potential in their tissue paper coats. They are ready to be unwrapped and covered with their Vinyl Record wraps to make these vases.

If you are there, please come and say hi on Saturday morning!

Furoshiki Bags for Africa

I have been recycling gorgeous vintage saris into furoshiki bags.

The simple bags consist of a hemmed square of  rescued sari fabric, knotted to form a bag.
They sit very comfortably on the shoulder

I keep one bundled up in my handbag - for small grocery shopping trips.  The fabric is  delicate, but surprisingly firm and can carry quite a bit!

They are beautiful storage bags too - This black and white one softly and elegantly stores the loo rolls

and this one holds my one-day-when-I-am-a-granny soft toy collection!

These little Indo-Japo-Afro numbers have sold well, and are now available  online too!

Saved by Droog

I am a huge fan Droog and their innovative design work.  Their latest redesign project at the recent Salone del Mobile in Milan was called Saved by Droog. 

They took 5135 items which they sourced from liquidation sales, etc and asked 14 designers to use these as raw materials to make something new!
Read about it here and meet some of the buyers here!  

Re-purposing and recycling are my passion! via Bloesem

Fresh Green, Silver and White

I've just picked up some beaded samples for a client.

 

I needed to photograph them to keep a record of the different  colour combinations Sandile put together, so I thought I would share their lovely green and white freshness with you.

It gives me so much joy to work with these talented people!

Bibliogami Hints

I am working hard at increasing my stock of Bibliogami Books, so that I can sell them online as well as at the Market!
Some people ask me - What do you actually do with them?
Well - It is difficult to read them, but their typographical beauty shows off well...
Stacked in a bowl:

 Back in the bookshelf:

 

or Perched on a candlestick! [WARNING - Do not actually set alight!]

I'll let you know when they are in the shop!

Story of a Trunk

A while ago, I came across this gorgeous little vintage trunk at a charity shop, with a story all of it's own. I immediately fell in love with it.

 

When I got home, I found that the key, which was tied on to the handle, did not actually unlock the trunk! So it has just been laying around - looking rugged and pretty and tightly closed.
The next I♥Market is coming up soon and I thought all these brightly coloured Origami Record Cover Boxes would go well with our autumn theme, and they would look lovely stacked up in the vintage trunk.

 So I took the trunk to the locksmith today.  How is it possible to make a key for a trunk that does not open? I don't know - but amazingly he did!
And yes, I think the Origami Record Cover Boxes look very good in there.

The catch to the story is - the cost of the new key was greater than the cost of the trunk itself!  Oh well, it's twice as valuable to me now!

Cross stitch paving!

This afternoon, quickly before the family got home, I decided to commit an act of guerrilla art and chalked a cross stitch pattern on my driveway!

I used a filet crochet graph of a rose, bud and leaf as my guide!
I enjoyed the giant pavement chalk I bought a while ago and have been itching to use! I plan to try it out again!

Do you think anyone will guess it was me?

Cotton Collection

This colourful collection of thrifted cottons, stored in a hat box, spurs on my crochet endeavors! I am thinking of some colourful  flower brooches maybe?

What I have been busy with is covering these soda bottles:

- seen here with leaves from our ice cream bush!

Have a happy weekend.  I am hoping to spend at least some it with my crochet hook!

A Bowl-ful of Balls

I try to fill my home with beautiful surprises.  I love it when visitors look, touch, feel, ask questions, laugh and hopefully see ordinary things in a different light.

I was so delighted to find this incomplete set of pool balls at my local charity shop the other day for the price of R10 [that's around $1.40 or just less than a British Pound].  I don't know anything about pool, so I am not sure what's missing.

 Maybe a white ball? I don't know?
But I do know I love the splash of colour and interest they add to my coffee table in my living room!

Decorated Stadium Horns

Yesterday I popped into the local beaders to chat about an order. They were so excited about their beaded vuvuzelas and encouraged me to take a pic!  I decided to to do my best with my cell phone and snap these colourful soccer horns!

The build up to the 2010 Soccer world cup is evident in so many different areas. Read this article for some background to this metre long, elephant sounding instrument!

Happy Easter!

Easter is a celebration of a very significant event for myself and my family and many others too. 
It's been a busy Easter weekend so far, but I thought I would pop into my garden and take a pic of this gorgeous Dutch Iris.

You can see the beginning of the Autumn Leaf fall in the background!  The weather has been so hot, it's hard to believe that Autumn is near!
The I Heart Market went so well yesterday.  It was a special experience meeting the other stall holders and customers and getting some orders and making sales, etc!
[The view from our table!]

Special thanks to the inspirational Lisa and Jo, who were such welcoming company at the store next door to mine! Read a lovely account of the morning at Lauren's Glossary!
Have a wonderful Easter

To Market, to Market....

Freshly Found is going to Market.  This Saturday we will be at the i heart market in Durban!

Quite a few products which are not yet in the online shop will be for sale.
My Biblio-gami [Folded Book Art] will be there

 as well as this fresh bowl of origami lillies, made from vintage paper!

I am looking forward to being part of this welcoming creative community.

Come and visit us there this Saturday from 8.30 to 1 in the beautiful old DLI Building at the Greyville racecourse.